Systematic review of the magnitude of change in the prevalence of Salmonella and the quantity of Salmonella after administration of pathogen reduction treatments on Pork Carcasses: Interim summary

Our objective was to review and describe the change in prevalence and/or quantity of Salmonella associated with pathogen reduction treatments (washes, sprays, etc.) on pork carcasses or carcass parts with skin in comparative experimental designs. This is an interim summary

Pain Management in the Neonatal Piglet During Routine Management Procedures. Part 1: A Systematic Review of Randomized and Non-Randomized Intervention Studies

Routine procedures carried out on piglets (i.e. castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and ear notching) are considered painful. Unfortunately the efficacy of current pain mitigation modalities is poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize the existing primary scientific literature regarding the effectiveness of pain management interventions used for routine procedures on piglets. The review question was, \u27In piglets under twenty-eight days old, undergoing castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and/or methods of identification that involve cutting of the ear tissue, what is the effect of pain mitigation compared with no pain mitigation on behavioral and non-behavioral outcomes that indicate procedural pain and post-procedural pain?\u27 A review protocol was designed a priori. Data sources used were Agricola (EBSCO), CAB Abstracts (Thomson Reuters), PubMed, Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), BIOSIS Previews (Thomson Reuters), and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. No restrictions on year of publication or language were placed on the search. Eligible studies assessed an intervention designed to mitigate the pain of the procedures of interest and included a comparison group that did not receive an intervention. Eligible non-English studies were translated using a translation service. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts for relevance using pre-defined questions. Data were extracted from relevant articles onto pre-defined forms. From the 2203 retrieved citations forty publications, containing 52 studies met the eligibility criteria. In 40 studies, piglets underwent castration only. In seven studies, piglets underwent tail docking only. In one study, piglets underwent teeth clipping only, and in one study piglets underwent ear notching only. Three studies used multiple procedures. Thirty-two trial arms assessed general anesthesia protocols, 30 trial arms assessed local anesthetic protocols, and 28 trial arms assessed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) protocols. Forty-one trial arms were controls where piglets received either placebo or no treatment. Forty-five outcomes were extracted from the studies, however only the results from studies that assessed cortisol (six studies), β-endorphins (one study), vocalisations (nine studies), and pain-related behaviors (nine studies) are reported. Other outcomes were reported in only one or two studies. Confident decision making will likely be difficult based on this body of work because lack of comprehensive reporting precludes calculation of the magnitude of pain mitigation for most outcomes

Safety Evaluation of Lasalocid Use in Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus)

Coccidiosis remains a significant threat to the welfare of game farm–reared pheasants in the United States. Although lasalocid has been demonstrated to be effective against pheasant specific coccidia, information regarding its safety in this species is lacking. The purpose of this study was to gather data on the safety of lasalocid when fed to Chinese ring-necked pheasants at one, two, and three times the recommended high dose of lasalocid used for prevention of coccidiosis in other poultry at three times the normal treatment period. Pheasant chicks (approximately 1 day-old; n  =  160) were randomly blocked by sex into four treatment groups and given their respective diets continuously for 6 wk. No significant differences were observed in overall feed consumption, weight gain, feed conversion rates, clinical pathology measurements, or tissue gross and histopathologic evaluations between controls and treatment groups associated with lasalocid administration. Based on the results of this study it appears that lasalocid fed at the recommended rate of 125 ppm is safe in Chinese ring-necked pheasants

Review: Assessment of completeness of reporting in intervention studies using livestock: an example from pain mitigation interventions in neonatal piglets

Accurate and complete reporting of study methods, results and interpretation are essential components for any scientific process, allowing end-users to evaluate the internal and external validity of a study. When animals are used in research, excellence in reporting is expected as a matter of continued ethical acceptability of animal use in the sciences. Our primary objective was to assess completeness of reporting for a series of studies relevant to mitigation of pain in neonatal piglets undergoing routine management procedures. Our second objective was to illustrate how authors can report the items in the Reporting guidElines For randomized controLled trials for livEstoCk and food safety (REFLECT) statement using examples from the animal welfare science literature. A total of 52 studies from 40 articles were evaluated using a modified REFLECT statement. No single study reported all REFLECT checklist items. Seven studies reported specific objectives with testable hypotheses. Six studies identified primary or secondary outcomes. Randomization and blinding were considered to be partially reported in 21 and 18 studies, respectively. No studies reported the rationale for sample sizes. Several studies failed to report key design features such as units for measurement, means, standard deviations, standard errors for continuous outcomes or comparative characteristics for categorical outcomes expressed as either rates or proportions. In the discipline of animal welfare science, authors, reviewers and editors are encouraged to use available reporting guidelines to ensure that scientific methods and results are adequately described and free of misrepresentations and inaccuracies. Complete and accurate reporting increases the ability to apply the results of studies to the decision-making process and prevent wastage of financial and animal resources

Pain management in the neonatal piglet during routine management procedures. Part 2:Grading the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations

Piglets reared in swine production in the USA undergo painful procedures that include castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and identification with ear notching or tagging. These procedures are usually performed without pain mitigation. The objective of this project was to develop recommendations for pain mitigation in 1- to 28-day-old piglets undergoing these procedures. The National Pork Board funded project to develop recommendations for pain mitigation in piglets. Recommendation development followed a defined multi-step process that included an evidence summary and estimates of the efficacies of interventions. The results of a systematic review of the interventions were reported in a companion paper. This manuscript describes the recommendation development process and the final recommendations. Recommendations were developed for three interventions (CO2/O2 general anesthesia, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and lidocaine) for use during castration. The ability to make strong recommendations was limited by low-quality evidence and strong certainty about variation in stakeholder values and preferences. The panel strongly recommended against the use of a CO2/O2 general anesthesia mixture, weakly recommended for the use of NSAIDs and weakly recommended against the use of lidocaine for pain mitigation during castration of 1- to 28-day-old piglets

Impact of Transmammary-Delivered Meloxicam on Biomarkers of Pain and Distress in Piglets after Castration and Tail Docking

To investigate a novel route for providing analgesia to processed piglets via transmammary drug delivery, meloxicam was administered orally to sows after farrowing. The objectives of the study were to demonstrate meloxicam transfer from sows to piglets via milk and to describe the analgesic effects in piglets after processing through assessment of pain biomarkers and infrared thermography (IRT). Ten sows received either meloxicam (30 mg/kg) (n = 5) or whey protein (placebo) (n = 5) in their daily feedings, starting four days after farrowing and continuing for three consecutive days. During this period, blood and milk samples were collected at 12-hour intervals. On Day 5 after farrowing, three boars and three gilts from each litter were castrated or sham castrated, tail docked, and administered an iron injection. Piglet blood samples were collected immediately before processing and at predetermined times over an 84-hour period. IRT images were captured at each piglet blood collection point. Plasma was tested to confirm meloxicam concentrations using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. Meloxicam was detected in all piglets nursing on medicated sows at each time point, and the mean (± standard error of the mean) meloxicam concentration at castration was 568.9±105.8 ng/mL. Furthermore, ex-vivo prostaglandin E2(PGE2) synthesis inhibition was greater in piglets from treated sows compared to controls (p = 0.0059). There was a time-by-treatment interaction for plasma cortisol (p = 0.0009), with meloxicam-treated piglets demonstrating lower cortisol concentrations than control piglets for 10 hours after castration. No differences in mean plasma substance P concentrations between treatment groups were observed (p = 0.67). Lower cranial skin temperatures on IRT were observed in placebo compared to meloxicam-treated piglets (p = 0.015). This study demonstrates the successful transfer of meloxicam from sows to piglets through milk and corresponding analgesia after processing, as evidenced by a decrease in cortisol and PGE2levels and maintenance of cranial skin temperature

Systematic review of the magnitude of change in the prevalence of Salmonella and the quantity of Salmonella after administration of pathogen reduction treatments on Pork Carcasses: Interim summary

Our objective was to review and describe the change in prevalence and/or quantity of Salmonella associated with pathogen reduction treatments (washes, sprays, etc.) on pork carcasses or carcass parts with skin in comparative experimental designs. This is an interim summary.</p

Safety Evaluation of Lasalocid Use in Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus)

Coccidiosis remains a significant threat to the welfare of game farm–reared pheasants in the United States. Although lasalocid has been demonstrated to be effective against pheasant specific coccidia, information regarding its safety in this species is lacking. The purpose of this study was to gather data on the safety of lasalocid when fed to Chinese ring-necked pheasants at one, two, and three times the recommended high dose of lasalocid used for prevention of coccidiosis in other poultry at three times the normal treatment period. Pheasant chicks (approximately 1 day-old; n  =  160) were randomly blocked by sex into four treatment groups and given their respective diets continuously for 6 wk. No significant differences were observed in overall feed consumption, weight gain, feed conversion rates, clinical pathology measurements, or tissue gross and histopathologic evaluations between controls and treatment groups associated with lasalocid administration. Based on the results of this study it appears that lasalocid fed at the recommended rate of 125 ppm is safe in Chinese ring-necked pheasants.This article is published as Dzikamunhenga, R. S., B. Wilberts, M. Yaeger, E. Burrough, J. Hostetter, H. Bender, W. Larson, and R. W. Griffith. "Safety evaluation of lasalocid use in Chinese ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus)." Avian Diseases 57, no. 2 (2013): 188-191. DOI: 10.1637/10320-080612-Reg.1. Posted with permission.</p